When is a Tone Control Fully Off

[GAJ52]

Hi

I know this is a strange question, but I was listening to one of the videos on the TVS website relating to Hanks sound. At one point Paul Rossiter said to turn the Amp tone controls off.

When is an amp control considered Off ?

I also remember Charlie once advising me to turn the Bass and Treble off while experimenting with the different amp controls, but I was too embarrassed to admit I didn't know which way was Off !!

I confess I don't own an amp but use a Line Pod X3 for the AC-15 / 30 emulation so don't know whether to turn the knobs clockwise or anticlockwise or midway. Part of the Line 6 instructions for the AC-30 Top Boost states and I quote "We also turned the tone controls around, since original Top Boost amps had the bass and treble turned all the way down when the knob was all the way up." What the Heck does that mean

Glen

[trickytree]

Hi Glen, I think you'll find that just like a volume control they are 'off' when turned fully anticlockwise and at maximum when fully clockwise. So 12 o'clock should be the midway setting.

I wasn't aware that the early AC30 top boosts had the bass and treble knobs the other way around, interesting stuff!


Ian

[asimmd]

I have heard of this before.

I think you will find it easy to determine whether the Bass/Treble are off or not by the sound of the guitar,however the Cut control is never actually off,if you turn it fully clockwise,it is full treble cut,turn it fully anticlockwise it is full bass cut.

Originally it was difficult to know which position the controls were in because they are reversed depending whether you stand in front of or behind the amp.

Alan

[GAJ52]

Ian, Alan

Thanks for your help

So, if a Bass knob is turned so the guitar sounds treble'y its off and
if a Treble knob is turned so it sounds Bass'y then it is also off, have I got this right.

With this apparent reversing as Line 6 suggests you may need to turn it fully clockwise to turn the effect off, this is where I'm getting confused.

Glen

[asimmd]

Hi Glen

Nearly right.When you turn the treble knob,it will not make the guitar sound bass'y,it just controls how much treble you hear.
Now if you turn the Bass knob,you will hear the bass get deeper as you increase it.

Best thing to do is to connect the guitar and turn one knob at a time,you'll soon hear the difference.

It's all trial and error till you get the hang of it.

Alan

[GAJ52]

Thanks Alan, I think I get the idea now.

Glen

[pitts]

When dealing with amplifiers there are a few things to consider.

First and foremost is, each manufacturer may implement their own designs very differently. After all, this is, in part, how they get "their" own sound.

It simple terms a tone control may considered "passive" such as in most guitars or "active" that is the control is controlling an active electronic circuit.

With the passive type it cant actually "add" any tonal "boost" (amplify), it simply "cuts" (lowers) the level of certain frequencies, usually frequencies above / below a given such as in treble cut and bass cut.
This is achieved by a combination usually of resistor(s) (usually the control itself) and a capacitor(s).. this utilises what is known as capacitive reactance. (bit too long winded a subject for here but consider it like resistor who's value changes with frequency). Simply put these two items can make a "variable filter".

The active controls on an amp may both "boost" and "cut" so it may be considered that the control is "off" when at zero.
Sometimes times when the control is in the centre. This is very common on mixers. While this approach may still utilise the trusty resistor and capacitor it is usually implemented via some active electronics such as integrated circuit filters (IC's). These types can really boost or cut in a very active way.

So when dealing with an amp you first have to know in today's world of all sorts of smarts in amps what you are dealing with.
So tone "off" can be confusing and also subjective.

To me personally tone off would be no boost or cut on either treble mid or bass.

Some people talk about EQ's as if they are a mystery science and a black art they are just tone controls in effect, usually dealing with just a certain group of frequencies.

Cheers
Ray
NZ